My opponent takes me aside

After a meeting we both attended last week, my opponent asked if I had a minute and led me to the corner of a hallway. He looked at me with a lot of intensity and said "I just want you to know that I'm going to be running this campaign on the issues. Not on personalities, not on rumors or any of that stuff, just on the issues."

Same goes for me, I told him. We agreed that we have an opportunity to give citizens a quality election campaign without the usual ugliness and distractions. We shook hands and as he turned away he said, "and I want you to know that I'm telling my team that, too."

I don't know who's on his team, but if you're supporting our campaign, I count you on my team. So I'm saying to you what he claims to be saying to his team: let's keep this on issues and steer clear of any last-minute garbage. He is stepping up and asking to do important public service, and from what I can tell (I only met him a few months ago) he's a thoroughly decent guy. The difference between us, and it's big, is our beliefs on what Jackson County needs to thrive. You've heard mine, or can read them on the website. And his? Well, here's his website. See what you think.

I hope you're with us this election. Part of being with us is resisting any urge to scorch him, no matter what flaming Letters to the Editor come our way. I'm asking everyone involved with this campaign to keep your eye on the ball: a viable, quality future for us and the next generation.

Releasing the Local Jobs Agenda

Some say there are three big issues this election year, in national state and local elections alike: 1) Jobs 2) Jobs and 3) Jobs.

That's not hard to understand. You don't have to look farther than page after page of foreclosure notices in the local paper to know that many working people are in the hardest crunch of their lives. We can design all the nifty government programs we want, but the hard reality won't change without developing stable, quality jobs.

How can county government help that happen? A couple of months ago we started a research project to find out. The result is our Local Jobs Agenda, which we think is unlike any report ever offered before in a Jackson County Commissioner race. It's not THE ANSWER...we don't think that exists. But it puts forward sound actionable ideas, and can stimulate more from others who are serious about putting Rogue Valley people back to work. That's the whole idea.

Take a look and tell us what you think.